Body armor typically comprises a jacket or vest which serves to hold sheets of typically KEVLAR.TM. 129 aramid fiber woven cloth, manufactured by E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company, or other aramid fiber cloth, or SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix, manufactured by Allied Signal, close to the body so as to provide bullet-resistant soft body armor. Conventionally, many sheets of either aramid fiber cloth or SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix, sometimes as many as 55 sheets, are overlaid and held as packets in pocket-like compartments within the jacket or vest. SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix, being overlaid synthetic fiber strands held within a resin binder, is stiffer than aramid fiber cloth which is a woven material of synthetic aramid fibers. SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix material is sufficiently stiff that a stack or packet of sheets may be inserted into pocket-like compartments in a jacket or vest without having to be sewn together. Aramid fiber cloth on the other hand is typically sewn together in the manner of quilting.
Previously, soft body armor bas relied on individual packets of multiple plies of SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix and individual packets of multiple plies of aramid fiber cloth, the packets each stacked one on top of the other so as to intersperse packets of one between packets of the other. The packets arc held vertically oriented within a pocket or like vertical compartment in the body armor. Applicant is aware of "POINT BLANK BODY ARMOR" of Amity, N.Y., U.S.A. which markets soft body armor having interspersed packets of aramid fiber cloth and packets of SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix, and in particular having within a single vertical compartment front and back packets of solely aramid fiber cloth and, sandwiched in-between, a middle packet of solely SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix sleets. The front and back packets of aramid fiber cloth are quilted.
Applicant is aware of U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,244 which issued on Jan. 12, 1993 to T. Tyler Zufle for an invention entitled "Reinforced Soft and Hard Body Armor", U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,880 which issued on Jan. 19, 1993 to T. Tyler Zufle for an invention entitled "Soft Body Armor", and U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,557 which issued on Apr. 26, 1994 to Thomas J. Madison for an invention entitled "Composite Tactical Hard Body Armor".
Zufle '224 discloses body armor comprised of alternating multiple packets of aramid fiber cloth and SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix. Zufle '880 discloses body armor comprised of aramid fiber cloth outer single plies 48 and 50, eight plies of SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filament in a flexible resin matrix 52 and 54 and ten plies of aramid fiber cloth 56. Madison discloses body armor which includes SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix layers 4, 7 and 9 and non-woven aramid fiber layers 3 and 6.
The object of the present invention is to provide soft body armor which combines the attributes of KEVLAR.TM. aramid fiber woven cloth or like aramid fiber cloth (hereinafter also referred to by the letter "A") and SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix (hereinafter also referred to by the letter "S") in an interleaved sandwich as opposed to a sandwich of packets of solely aramid fiber cloth and solely SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix; and in particular interleaved so as to alternate one and two sheets of aramid fiber cloth between two sheets of SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix; for example in the ratio of 2 sheets of SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix: 2 sheets of aramid fiber cloth: 2 sheets of Spectra: 1 sheet of aramid fiber cloth and so on in a 2:1 (S:A) ratio, repeated for a total of 18 sheets of SPECTRA.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix and 9 sheets of aramid fiber cloth. It has been found that this interleaved layering exhibits many improved characteristics over stacks of solely aramid fiber cloth or solely SPECTRA SHIELD.TM. high molecular weight polyethylene filaments in a flexible resin matrix.